Systems and methods of digital content certification and verification using cryptography and blockchain

ABSTRACT

A verification computer system is provided that provides for content certification and verification using cryptography and a blockchain.

CROSS REFERENCE(S) TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/619,248, filed Jan. 19, 2018, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL OVERVIEW

The technology herein relates to integrity verification of digital data.More particularly, the technology herein relates to systems thatintegrate with a blockchain to provide for certification andverification of the origin and integrity of digital data as it iscreated, edited, and/or released (e.g., over an electronic medium suchas the Internet).

INTRODUCTION

Verifying the origin or the integrity of content (e.g., whether in theform of general news releases or more specific informational notices) isan important issue in modern society. Individuals, organizations, andothers rely on the integrity of disseminated content or information tomake important decisions. For example, an organization may receiveweather reports that are used for determining whether an office locationshould be closed. Or a company may receive informational notices thatrelate to the tracked locations of packages. These operational issuesfor organizations are combined with the issue that fake informationcontent (e.g., news) can cause public distrust, adverse economic impact,and reputational damage to organizations. The reliance or use of suchinformation has only increased in recent years due to the ease by whichdigital content or information can be distributed across the Internetand other digital mediums.

Accordingly, organizations and individuals are continually interested intechniques by which the origin and the integrity of data content can becertified or verified. For example, so that information that is beingdisseminated (e.g., over the internet) can be verified. There is thus aneed to develop systems, processes, and/or techniques to address theseand other issues.

SUMMARY

In certain example embodiments, a computer system provides reliablecertification of the origin and the integrity of data content that hasbeen, is, or will be disseminated over the internet. This may beaccomplished by providing the consumer of the content an interface bywhich to independently verify the origin and original data contentthrough the use of cryptographic algorithms and/or the blockchain.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts that arefurther described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary isintended neither to identify key features or essential features of theclaimed subject matter, nor to be used to limit the scope of the claimedsubject matter; rather, this Summary is intended to provide an overviewof the subject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it willbe appreciated that the above-described features are merely examples,and that other features, aspects, and advantages of the subject matterdescribed herein will become apparent from the following DetailedDescription, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features and advantages will be better and morecompletely understood by referring to the following detailed descriptionof example non-limiting illustrative embodiments in conjunction with thedrawings of which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a non-limiting example function block diagram of acomputer-implemented information system that interfaces with ablockchain according to certain example embodiments;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are signal diagrams showing operation for certifying andverifying content using the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A illustrates another example computer system that implementstechniques for a cryptographic audit trail according to certain exampleembodiments;

FIGS. 3B and 3C are signal diagrams showing operation of the system(s)shown in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4 is a screenshot of a dashboard that is used to graphically showan audit trail of digital content according the system in FIG. 3A;

FIG. 5 illustrates cryptographic techniques according to certain exampleembodiments; and

FIG. 6 shows an example computing device that may be used in someembodiments to implement features described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation andnon-limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particularnodes, functional entities, techniques, protocols, etc. in order toprovide an understanding of the described technology. It will beapparent to one skilled in the art that other embodiments may bepracticed apart from the specific details described below. In otherinstances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, devices,techniques, etc. are omitted so as not to obscure the description withunnecessary detail.

Sections are used in this Detailed Description solely in order to orientthe reader as to the general subject matter of each section; as will beseen below, the description of many features spans multiple sections,and headings should not be read as affecting the meaning of thedescription included in any section.

FIG. 1

FIG. 1 illustrates a non-limiting example function block diagram of acomputer-implemented information system that interfaces with ablockchain according to certain example embodiments.

A publisher computer system 102 communicates with customer A computersystem 100 being used by a publisher of informational content. Publishercomputer systems 102 may include one or more of the computing devicesshown in FIG. 5 (e.g., a server or the like).

In certain examples, users are authenticated against publisher systems102 via login module 122 (e.g., via a username/password combination)and/or other authentication processes. Users of publisher systems 102may be verified users that belong to a verified legal entity (e.g., acompany or the like).

Login module 122 may also include functionality that allows users tocreate content such as news or press releases via a portal provided inconnection with the login module 112 and/or the API module 123. Forexample, a user may provide input through a web page or the like tocreate content that will be disseminated for mass consumption viainternet portals 128, social media, 130, and/or news agencies 132, etc.In certain examples, the content that is to be disseminated can betransferred (e.g., uploaded) from the customer A computer system 100 tothe publisher computer system 102. For example, a PDF or Microsoft Word®document may be uploaded as the content that will be disseminated. Oncethe content is created or uploaded to the publisher computer system 102it may be stored to local data storage 126.

Certification authority computer system 104 exposes certificationservice APIs 112 to publisher systems 102. Crypto Key store 114 storespublic and private keys for content publishers and customers for thatpublisher. In certain examples, certification authority computer system104 may generate private/public keys for any user or other entity thatwishes to disseminate information. The public and private keys are usedto provide cryptographic proof that the content creator is authentic(e.g. that someone claiming to be Reuters is actually Reuters) and thatthe content itself is authentic (e.g. that it has not been tamperedwith). Certification authority computer system 104 also generatesblockchain transactions 116 that include or are based on signature(s)118 and/or hashes 120.

Signatures may be formed via a cryptographic algorithm that takes aninput hash and a private key and returns a unique set of bits (e.g., thesignature). Keys (e.g., those stored in crypto key store 114) may be apiece of information that determines the functional output of acryptographic algorithm or cipher. Without a key, an algorithm would notproduce a useful result. Certain example embodiments described hereinmay use multi-signature techniques. Multi-signature may includetechniques for requiring more than one party (and their corresponding“keys”) to approve a transaction. For example, two or more keys may berequired for authorizing a blockchain transaction (or certain types ofblockchain transactions).

Certification authority computer system 104 interfaces with blockchain140. Specifically, certification authority computer system 104 submitsblockchain transactions that it has generated to the blockchain forverification and/or incorporation into the blockchain 140.

The blockchain technology (sometimes simply referred to as blockchain)has been used in digital currency implementations and is described in a2008 article by Satoshi Nakamoto, called “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-PeerElectronic Cash System,” the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference. A blockchain (like blockchain 140) is a datastructure that stores a list of transactions and can be thought of as adistributed electronic ledger that records transactions between sourceidentifier(s) and destination identifier(s). The blockchain may also bethought of as a sequential transaction database. In any event, this datastructure is stored on a blockchain computer system (not shown) that mayinclude a plurality of computer devices or nodes (e.g., each of whichmay be an instance of the device shown in FIG. 6) that communicate witheach other over an electronic data communications network.

The transactions that makeup the blockchain are bundled into blocks andevery block (except for the first block) refers back to or is linked toa prior block in the chain. Computer nodes maintain the blockchain andcryptographically validate each new block and thus the transactionscontained in the corresponding block. This validation process includessolving a computationally difficult problem that is also easy to verifyand is sometimes called a “proof-of-work.”

Whenever it is described in this document that data (whether atransaction, or any other type of data) is stored on the blockchain,such storing may include: the initial reception of the transaction tothe blockchain 140 (or one of the nodes that store the blockchaintherein); the cryptographic verification of the transaction (e.g., itsincorporation into a “block” of the blockchain); and/or a determinationthat the transaction is now computationally immutable (e.g., multipleblocks have been linked to the blockchain that incorporated the at-issuetransaction).

Each transaction (or a block of transactions) is incorporated/includedinto the blockchain 140 via a proof-of-work mining process. For example,each node may attempt to “mine” a solution to the hash of a block or atransaction. Hashes (also referred to herein as “hash functions,”“cryptographic hash functions,” and the like) include functions that mapan initial input data set to an output data set. The output from a hashfunction may be referred to herein as a “hash identifier,” “hash value,”“hash data set,” or simply, a “hash”). Generally, the output values froma given hash function have the same fixed length. Generally, if the samehash function is used on the same input data it will result in the sameoutput data value. With some hash functions (including those used in thecontext of blockchain techniques and/or the subject matter of thisapplication) the input value is computationally difficult to determinewhen only the output value is known. In certain examples, the inputvalue for the hash function is supplemented with some additional randomdata. For example, an input value of “blockchain” for a hash functionmay include addition random data such as three random characters.Accordingly, the data value that is hashed may be “blockchaina5h”instead of simply “blockchain.” The additional random data is sometimescalled a “nonce.”

In order to validate a new block into the blockchain, the proof of workprocess (or hash operation process) that is performed may includefinding an input hash value (i.e., the block) that results in an outputhash value that meets a given condition. As the data related to theblockchain transactions in the blockchain are fixed, miners (e.g., nodeson the blockchain) modify the nonce value that is included as part ofthe block being validated until the output value of the hash functionmeets the given condition. For example, a target output value may havezeros as the first four numbers of the hash. This is a problem that maybe computationally difficult to determine, yet relatively easy toverify. It will be appreciated, that other types of proof-of-workapproaches may be used in accordance with certain example embodiments.

In certain examples, each node may be a virtual machine that issupported by appropriate computer hardware (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5).Thus, multiple nodes may be present on the same underlying “computer.”In other examples, each node may be its own physical machine. Ablockchain system may also be a combination of these approaches (e.g.,both virtual nodes and purely physical nodes).

In certain examples, blockchain 140 may be publically accessible (e.g.,anyone can read directly from the blockchain 140). In certain examples,nodes of the blockchain may all be controlled by one entity (e.g., theorganization responsible for the cert authority system 104) or a groupof entities. In certain examples, access to the blockchain is restrictedto only authorized users and/or systems. For example, reading blockchain140 may be restricted to systems 104 and/or 110. In certain examples,blockchain 140 may be a public blockchain (e.g. the blockchain that isused by Bitcoin).

Returning to FIG. 1, consumer systems 108 are those computer systemsthat customer B systems 106 consume the content created by a publisher.Consumer systems include news portals (e.g., public facing portals),social media, news agencies, APIs, and other electronic distributiontechniques that are used to disseminate the created content to consumers(e.g. users of different ones of customer B computer systems 106).

Verification system 110 is used to verify the creator/publisher of thecontent and the content being consumed by end users via consumer systems108. Verification system 110 includes an interface 134 (e.g., a webinterface), an API module 136, and service module 138.

FIGS. 2A and 2B:

FIGS. 2A and 2B are signal diagrams showing operations for certifyingand verifying content using the system shown in FIG. 1.

At 200, a publisher of content uses the publisher system(s) 102 togenerate or create content. In certain examples, the content is uploaded(e.g., in the form of a file or other data) from a computer being usedby a publisher (e.g., a mobile device) to the publisher system(s) 102.Once the content is created and the publisher determines that it isready for release, a user causes a request from the publisher system 102to be transmitted or otherwise submitted to the certification system 104at 202. The request may include the content to be certified. In certainexamples, the request may be associated with a publisher digitalidentity (e.g. that is associated with a cryptographic key stored incrypto key store 114). For example, a publisher that is using publishersystem(s) 102 may authenticate against the certification computer system104 in connection with the submitted request.

At 204, upon reception of the certification request (e.g., in responseto the request and based on the content of the request), thecertification system may generate a hash of the content that is to bedisseminated (or has been disseminated).

At 206, the certification computer system 104 may use the key associatedwith publisher of the content and “sign” the hash to thereby create asignature for the publisher. In certain examples, the certificationcomputer system 104 may also use the key of the customer that will beconsuming the content to “sign” the hash. In certain examples, a key ofthe customer of the publisher system may also be used to sign the hash(e.g., to create a signature for the publisher's customer).

At 208, the certification computer system 104 generates a blockchaintransaction that is based on the hashed content (from step 204), adigital signature associated with the publisher system 102, and/or adigital signature associated with the publisher's customer. Thegenerated blockchain transaction is then written to the blockchain 140at 210 for incorporation therein.

At 212, the certification computer system 104 generates a verificationtoken. In certain examples, the verification token is based on thegenerated blockchain transaction, the content, the hash of the content,the digital signatures associated with the content, the keys associatedwith the publisher or consumer, and/or any combination thereof. Incertain example embodiments, the verification token may be a hash of thegenerated blockchain transaction and/or the transaction identifier ofthe blockchain transaction.

At 214 the verification token is returned to the publisher computersystem 102. In other words, the publisher computer system 102 submitsthe certification request at step 202 and gets a verification token inresponse.

At 216, the publisher system 102 embeds the returned token into thecontent that is to be published and then at 218 the content (with theembedded token) is published to consumer systems 108.

At 220, end users or consumers 106 consume the content that is availablefrom consumer systems. Once the consumers obtain the content, they alsoobtain the embedded token at 222. In certain examples, the token may beembedded into a hyperlink (e.g., as part of an HTML version of thecontent). Consumer 106 may click on the hyperlink to triggerverification of the content.

At 224, the computer system (e.g., a desktop, tablet, or other mobiledevice) submits a verification request to verification computer system110. The verification request may include the content in question, thetoken, the (alleged) publisher of content, and/or other data.

In response to the verification request, the verification computersystem 110 queries the blockchain 140 for the transaction associatedwith the token at 226. Upon obtaining the transaction, the verificationcomputer system 110 matches or compares, at 228, the hash of the contentwith the hash of the content that was stored as part of the transaction.

At 230, the verification computer system 110 verifies the signatures ofthe publisher and publisher computer systems.

At 232, the authenticity of the content obtained by the consumer isdetermined and the result of that determination (e.g., from 228 and 230)is returned to the consumer at 234. In certain examples, if the hashedcontent matches and the signatures are verified, then the verificationsystem returns a positive verification result (e.g., the content beingconsumed is authentic). If the elements do not match, then the returnedresult is false (the content is fake).

Thus, given the verification token and the content, it is possible foranyone to verify the content directly from the blockchain (or via theverification system) by using cryptographic techniques. In certainexamples, consumers may directly query the blockchain to determine theauthenticity of the content (e.g., without involving the verificationsystem. Hence, in certain examples, the system is an open system inwhich content can be verified by anyone.

In certain example, the verification computer system may includefunctionality for tracking opinions of end users on the veracity of thecontent itself. Such techniques may allow building of a trust ratingsystem based upon public voting or opinion.

FIGS. 3A-4:

FIG. 3A illustrates another example computer system that implementstechniques for a cryptographic audit trail according to certain exampleembodiments. FIGS. 3B and 3C are signal diagrams showing operation ofthe system(s) shown in FIG. 3A.

In certain examples, a system for providing a cryptographically provableaudit trail is provided in a business process agnostic manner. This mayallow, for example, tracking of workflows where responsibilities ortasks move between different users or parties. Possible implementationsinclude, for example, 1) tracking loans across country boundaries (e.g.,to determine or ensure that the money from the loan is being usedappropriately), tracking financial security related issues (e.g., asunderstood by the securities exchange commission or SEC), 3) trackingbulk shipping contracts; 4) tracking the custody of physical assets(from printers in an office, to tires in an repair shop, to clothes in astore); 5) tracking assets of historical value; and 6) tracking andlogging data as it moves from one system to another and/or is changed.In certain examples, the techniques herein promote information securityand data governance in client applications and how data is handled forsuch applications. The techniques herein may also be used in providing aDigital Rights Management (DRM) platform for the data in question.

Generally, the system shown in FIG. 3A allows for audit or tracking datachanges via four different aspects. First, who is performing amodification or doing an action (e.g. the identity). Second, what datais being acted upon or modified. This may include before and aftersnapshots of the data, hashes of a difference, only those items of adata set being modified, etc. . . . Third, what time the modification oraction occurs. And fourth, what is the context of the modification oraction being performed. An example of context may include knowingwhether the data modification being performed is in conjunction with thefourth step of a 15 step business process or the fifth step of that same15 step business process.

The system shown in FIG. 3A includes an example client application 316that includes a frontend application interface 318, an applicationservice component 320, and a database 322. The client system 316interfaces with system 300 (e.g., via an API call to the agent service).

Example client application 316 may be an existing application (e.g., onethat is already in production) or a new application that is beingdeveloped. For example, the client application 316 may be a newsdistribution-like application (e.g., for disseminating news as discussedin connection with FIG. 1), with functionality for creating multipleuser accounts (e.g., utilizing the two-factor authentication) andallowing users to create and edit jobs, which contain information suchas headlines, dates, etc. Jobs may be forked, jobs may be duplicated,and/or multiple users can collaborate on various jobs. The clientapplication 316 may include special approver accounts that can approveedits to a job, finalizing the changes made, and the like.

All of the actions allowed by the client application may be hooked intothe functionality that is provided by system 300 and the Audit Hubmodule 302 that is part of system 300. Actions that are performed inapplication 316 may be linked to endpoints provided by the Audit HubModule 302. For example, the logic of how a client application works maybe created and processed by the audit hub module 302. The logic (e.g.,as discussed in connection with the creation of states and statetransitions during application registration) can be applied to events orother data that is received by agent service 304. This creates“workflows” that are then used in system 300 to provide for an audittrail representation of the actions a user has made in clientapplication 316. The workflows may be visualized as chains (see FIG. 4),where each action is a link in the chain, as well as the data associatedwith each action. The data that is included with an action on how theworkflows are formed may be driven by the client application 316.Specifically, programming hooks or triggers may be added to theapplication server module 320 that cause a message to be passed to agentservice 304, which then stores the data related to client applicationaction or event.

Applications that desire to use the functionality of system 300 may berequired to register with system 300 in order to gain access to thefunctionality offered by system 300. The registration process mayinclude the following 4 steps: 1) Providing user details and save datafield; 2) Define States; 3) Setting up a State Machine Setup; and 4) anAccount Overview step. This registration process may be accomplished viaa webpage or the like.

For the first step a user inputs his/her email, an organization name,application name, and password. The user can also indicate whether ornot system 300 should save the data of their application. In otherwords, should system 300 store all application data or just hashes ofthe data and workflows.

The second part of the registration process has the user define statesfor the workflows of the client application. With the various statesdefined, then the user defines the transitions between those states(e.g., a denial state cannot transition to an approval state, etc. . . .). From this information an adjacency matrix for the states may begenerated (as shown in the below example JSON snippet). This allows aclient to define their own domain specific language that can be relatedto their specific client application.

Once the state transitions are completed by the user, the registrationsystem may show the states and their transitions to the registering useras a state machine. If everything is acceptable to the user, then theycan finalize the registration process. At this point a JSON file (orother technique or data structure for holding the configuration of thestate transitions) is created based on the provided registrationinformation. For example,

{ allowStorage: true, states: {“Start”: [ ], “Edit”: [ ], “Approve”: []}, adjMat: {“Start”: {“Start”: false, “Edit”: true, “Approve”: true},“Edit”: {“Start”: false, “Edit”: false, “Approve”: true}, “Approve”:{“Start”: false, “Edit”: false, “Approve”: false}} }

In the above example, start, edit, and approve states were defined, andthe transitions between those states were then specified (as indicatedby the adjMat field). The allowstorage bit is set to true (e.g., fromthe first step in the registration process). This registrationinformation is passed to system 300 that records it in database 312. Incertain examples, in response to the registration process, system 300may return a secret key that allows access to the API provided via agentservice 304.

Accordingly, registration of a client application with system 300 mayinclude defining different states for workflows that are in the clientapplication, as well as the associated data for each state. Adjacencystates for the states of a workflow may also be defined. In other words,the configuration may define what states are allowed to follow eachstate. The configuration may also specify whether or not data for eachauditable action (or the entire application) should be stored to theblockchain. If such information is not desired to be stored, then hashesof the data may be calculated along with corresponding cryptographicproofs. The hashes of the data instead of the data may be included intothe eventual blockchain transaction that is generated and incorporatedinto the blockchain. In will be appreciated that certain types of clientapplications (e.g., those that operate with confidential data) maydesire this type of functionality as the underlying blockchain to whichthe data is written may be a publically accessible blockchain (e.g., thebitcoin blockchain). When a hashed version of the data is stored to theblockchain (as opposed the actual data), other data storage for theactual data may be left to the client application (e.g., to store indatabase 322).

The agent service 304 serves as an entry point to system 300 for clientapplications that make use of the auditing and tracking featuresprovided by system 300. Specifically, agent service 304 receivesrequests (e.g., events) from client applications (e.g., clientapplication 316) that include data that the client application desiresto be logged and tracked. In certain examples, every event or requestthat is submitted through the agent service 304 includes a correspondinguser context that is mapped to an identity that is stored in thehardware security module 310 (e.g., the private and public keys for thatidentity are stored in the HSM). This identity information is then usedin the creation of transactions that are based on the event information.

Data that is passed to the agent service 304 by the client application316 may be visualized (e.g., in real-time) via the dashboard servicemodule 308 and the frontend dashboard 304 (both are described in greaterdetail below).

In certain example embodiments, agent service utilizes Node.js for itsarchitecture and a database 312 for storing workflow informationreceived from clients. An example database may be MongoDB.

The runtime interaction between client application 316 and the agentservice 304 has the application workflow process of the clientapplication 316 communicate with the agent service 304 that then storesthe workflow information received from the client application todatabase 312. The agent service 304 also interacts with blockchainservice 314 and a corresponding blockchain where the above noted 4different aspects that are being tracked may be stored (or hashesthereof). In certain example embodiments, the blockchain service 314 issetup so that different types of blockchain chains (e.g., Ethereum,hyperledger, Dash etc.) may be used.

Once a client application is registered it can then send requests to theagent service 304. Such requests may be sent as HTTP POST requests orvia another defined API. These requests may contain the name of theclient application the workflow belongs to (and/or the name oridentifier of the workflow), the userId/userAlias of the user making theaction (which is mapped to an identity in the HSM 310), the state anddata of the action, and tags that the client application 316 desires tobe included in the audit. The request may also include an indication onwhether data should be saved or not and/or whether the workflow shouldbe fossilized. In certain examples, the request may or may not includethe hash value of the previous action in the workflow. If no hash isincluded, then the agent service 304 may assume this is action is thefirst in a new workflow. The payload for the request may include: 1) anapplicationID (e.g., to identify the client application from otherclient applications), 2) an application key, 3) a userID, 4), the state,5) the data, and 6) metadata associated with the request.

In response to reception of a request, the agent service 304, and inconjunction with the grammar applied by the audit hub module 302, mayquery database 312 for corresponding previous states. The agent service304 may also organize the received data into another format (e.g., aformat that is common to system 300 instead of client application 316).The agent service 304 may also store the newly received action to thedatabase 312. In certain examples, a Merkle proof (see FIG. 5) may begenerated should the workflow need to be fossilized. In other words, theMerkle proof provides for a single proof or data item that proves thatall child proofs are still valid (e.g., have not been changed from anoriginally generated Merkle proof). Thus, if a piece of information froman event is retroactively changed, the corresponding child proofs, andthus the Merkle proof will also change. Such changes may be recognizedbecause the final proof—the Merkle proof is no longer the same. Incertain example embodiments, the merkle proof may be comprised of a 32bit hash value for the corresponding childproofs (and theircorresponding data items or event data). The updated data may then beposted (or otherwise made available) to the dashboard 304 (e.g., via aWeb Socket).

For each state transition that is generated as a result of an event thatis sent to the agent service, the system 300 generates a new blockchaintransaction (via the blockchain service 314) and stores that transactionto the blockchain. Thus, for example, each of the states shown in FIG. 4includes a corresponding blockchain transaction that has beencryptographically incorporated into the blockchain (e.g., thetransaction, and thus the corresponding action that was performed inapplication 316, becomes immutable). To further explain, the left mostnode in FIG. 4 may be the genesis block and the various forks may beside chains that are generated.

System 300 may also include a dashboard service 308 and correspondinguser interface 304 (a dashboard) that allows a user to interact with thecontent being recorded. An example user interface is shown in FIG. 4.Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the various state changes to aworkflow from a client application is shown. The example shown in FIG. 4is for a client application that handles news releases and the like(e.g., a news release may be forked and/or edited numerous times beforebeing released). The dashboard allows a user to see how the news releasechanged from the initial state to a current (or final) state.

A user (e.g., an administrator) can select any of the individual panelsin the list on the left-hand side of the dashboard to open a specificworkflow. The right side shows a specific workflow. Clicking each of theindividual hexagon-shaped segments may display an info box containinginformation about that segment, including user alias, timestamp, data,and link hashes. The info box may also contain a verify button. A usercan trigger a verification action that will start a process forverifying the user who created that particular segment or action in theworkflow. The verification process may include comparing a currentpicture of the user at the time of verification to a picture that wastaken at the time the action was stored.

On the left-hand panel, a user may can also select the show button 404to show the same segments of a workflow in chronological order. Button402 may also be available for certain workflows and when clicked theMerkle tree for that workflow may be shown. Button 402 may only be shownif the workflow has an “Approve” segment, indicating that it has beenfossilized and committed to a blockchain.

System 300 may also include a zero knowledge proof system 306. Incertain instances, users may be required to submit a current photographof themselves that is stored along with the data that they are workingon. Facial recognition may then be used to determine that person A is,in fact, user A (e.g., biometric data).

Turning to FIGS. 3B and 3C, a signal diagram is shown that illustrateshow the systems in FIG. 3A may be used in certain example embodiments.

At 350, a user (e.g., an administrator) that wishes to modify a clientapplication 316 (or as part of creating a new client application)defines the various states that will be used for determining when andhow data related to events will be captured by system 300.

At 352, a state machine is generated that uses the states defined at350. The state machine may define, for example, what transitions can(and conversely cannot) occur between the various states. For example, abeginning state may transition to an edit state, but not vice versa.Based on the generated states and the state machine, a configurationdata structure is generated that may be saved to a file (e.g., a JSONfile or other file format).

At 354, the configuration is applied (e.g., uploaded, transmitted, etc.. . . ) to system 300 via configuration interface 330. The configurationinterface may be an interface that is used by administrators or otherusers to configure the operation of system 300. For example, theconfiguration may be applied to system 300 by setting up Agent 304 touse the generated configuration in response to reception of events orother data that will be transmitted from client application 316.

At 356, the application layer of client application 316 may be updated.For example, the application layer may be modified to make REST(Representational state transfer) calls (e.g., a web service) to system300 and agent 304 thereof. In certain examples, there may be one callfor each state change as is represented by the generated configuration.

Once client application 316 and system 300 are updated as discussedabove, then a user may normally use client application at 358. It willbe appreciated that the modification/configuration of the clientapplication 316 (e.g., the application layer thereof) may not be visibleto the user. In other words, the changes to client system 316 may betransparent to the user.

At 360, the user uses client application 316. During this use thoseactions that correspond to the previously defined state changes may becaught at the application layer of client application 316 and trigger acall (e.g., a REST call) to system 300.

At 362, the application layer of client application 316 initiates a call(e.g., a REST call or other API call) to agent 304. Information that isincluded with the call may include, 1) identity information (e.g., auserID), 2) the data being acted upon (e.g., the user is updating fieldsin a customer database), 3) a timestamp, and 4), the context of themodification being performed.

In response to reception of the call at agent 304, the public and/orprivate key information associated with the user identity informationincluded in the call is retrieved.

At 366, based on information included in the call, a blockchaintransaction is generated. The contents of the blockchain transaction maybe as described above in connection with FIG. 3A.

At 368, the generated blockchain transaction is written to theblockchain. Information that is associated with the original call fromapplication 316, but is not included in the blockchain transaction, mayalso be saved to a separate internal database 312 at 370.

At a subsequent time, a user may access dashboard 304 and performauditing at 372 by accessing information that is stored on blockchain314.

Accordingly, usage of client application 316 by an ordinary user may becaptured and forwarded to system 300. System 300 may generate ablockchain transaction based on this usage and record the same to ablockchain. Another user can then review a dashboard to verify and/orinspect the transaction stored to the blockchain. In certain examples,automated alerts may be generated based on state changes and/orinformation received from client application 316 that does not match thedata stored to the blockchain.

FIG. 5

FIG. 5 illustrates cryptographic techniques according to certain exampleembodiments. Such techniques may be applied to the system shown in FIG.3A.

Actions 0 through 3 comprise a workflow. As described herein, eachaction or transition between states of this workflow results in an eventor call to system 300 from the corresponding client application.Included in each of the events that is captured by system 300 are theuser associated with the action (A), the data the action is acting on(B), the time stamp for the action (C), and the context associated withthe action (D).

In response to the reception of this information, system 300 creates acryptographic signature based on this information. The signature iscreated with the private key of the user that performed the action. Inother words, Signature=key_(user) (A, B, C, D). This corresponds to thesecond level shown in FIG. 5.

The generated signature is then hashed. This corresponds to the thirdlevel shown in FIG. 5. As the user performs further actions, each actionis logged in the same manner. Thus, a signature and hash are created foreach of actions 0, 1, 2, and 3. Additionally, the “current” hash linksto the previous hash and thereby forms a hash chain. The generatedsignatures and hashes are stored in a local database (e.g., database312). This information may be called a side chain.

The created hash chain is further processed to generate further data. Incertain examples, this further data is the Merkle Root of the hashesusing the Merkle tree algorithm. The further processed data (e.g., theMerkle Root) is then saved to the blockchain via blockchain service 314by creating a transaction and adding the Merkle Root (or othercalculated data) in, for example, the user data field of the blockchaintransaction. The blockchain transaction is then submitted to theunderlying blockchain. Once the transaction is confirmed, thetransaction ID is stored along with the other proof in database 312.

FIG. 6

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example computing device 600 (which mayalso be referred to, for example, as a “computing device,” “computersystem,” or “computing system”) according to some embodiments. In someembodiments, the computing device 600 includes one or more of thefollowing: one or more processors 602; one or more memory devices 604;one or more network interface devices 606; one or more displayinterfaces 608; and one or more user input adapters 610. Additionally,in some embodiments, the computing device 600 is connected to orincludes a display device 612. As will explained below, these elements(e.g., the processors 602, memory devices 604, network interface devices606, display interfaces 608, user input adapters 610, display device612) are hardware devices (for example, electronic circuits orcombinations of circuits) that are configured to perform variousdifferent functions for the computing device 600.

In some embodiments, each or any of the processors 602 is or includes,for example, a single- or multi-core processor, a microprocessor (e.g.,which may be referred to as a central processing unit or CPU), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a microprocessor in association with a DSP core,an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field ProgrammableGate Array (FPGA) circuit, or a system-on-a-chip (SOC) (e.g., anintegrated circuit that includes a CPU and other hardware componentssuch as memory, networking interfaces, and the like). And/or, in someembodiments, each or any of the processors 602 uses an instruction setarchitecture such as x86 or Advanced RISC Machine (ARM).

In some embodiments, each or any of the memory devices 604 is orincludes a random access memory (RAM) (such as a Dynamic RAM (DRAM) orStatic RAM (SRAM)), a flash memory (based on, e.g., NAND or NORtechnology), a hard disk, a magneto-optical medium, an optical medium,cache memory, a register (e.g., that holds instructions), or other typeof device that performs the volatile or non-volatile storage of dataand/or instructions (e.g., software that is executed on or by processors602). Memory devices 604 are examples of non-volatile computer-readablestorage media.

In some embodiments, each or any of the network interface devices 606includes one or more circuits (such as a baseband processor and/or awired or wireless transceiver), and implements layer one, layer two,and/or higher layers for one or more wired communications technologies(such as Ethernet (IEEE 802.3)) and/or wireless communicationstechnologies (such as Bluetooth, WiFi (IEEE 802.11), GSM, CDMA2000,UMTS, LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), and/or other short-range, mid-range,and/or long-range wireless communications technologies). Transceiversmay comprise circuitry for a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitterand receiver may share a common housing and may share some or all of thecircuitry in the housing to perform transmission and reception. In someembodiments, the transmitter and receiver of a transceiver may not shareany common circuitry and/or may be in the same or separate housings.

In some embodiments, each or any of the display interfaces 608 is orincludes one or more circuits that receive data from the processors 602,generate (e.g., via a discrete GPU, an integrated GPU, a CPU executinggraphical processing, or the like) corresponding image data based on thereceived data, and/or output (e.g., a High-Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI), a DisplayPort Interface, a Video Graphics Array (VGA)interface, a Digital Video Interface (DVI), or the like), the generatedimage data to the display device 612, which displays the image data.Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, each or any of thedisplay interfaces 608 is or includes, for example, a video card, videoadapter, or graphics processing unit (GPU).

In some embodiments, each or any of the user input adapters 610 is orincludes one or more circuits that receive and process user input datafrom one or more user input devices (not shown in FIG. 6) that areincluded in, attached to, or otherwise in communication with thecomputing device 600, and that output data based on the received inputdata to the processors 602. Alternatively or additionally, in someembodiments each or any of the user input adapters 610 is or includes,for example, a PS/2 interface, a USB interface, a touchscreencontroller, or the like; and/or the user input adapters 610 facilitatesinput from user input devices (not shown in FIG. 6) such as, forexample, a keyboard, mouse, trackpad, touchscreen, etc. . . .

In some embodiments, the display device 612 may be a Liquid CrystalDisplay (LCD) display, Light Emitting Diode (LED) display, or other typeof display device. In embodiments where the display device 612 is acomponent of the computing device 600 (e.g., the computing device andthe display device are included in a unified housing), the displaydevice 612 may be a touchscreen display or non-touchscreen display. Inembodiments where the display device 612 is connected to the computingdevice 600 (e.g., is external to the computing device 600 andcommunicates with the computing device 600 via a wire and/or viawireless communication technology), the display device 612 is, forexample, an external monitor, projector, television, display screen,etc. . . .

In various embodiments, the computing device 600 includes one, or two,or three, four, or more of each or any of the above-mentioned elements(e.g., the processors 602, memory devices 604, network interface devices606, display interfaces 608, and user input adapters 610). Alternativelyor additionally, in some embodiments, the computing device 600 includesone or more of: a processing system that includes the processors 602; amemory or storage system that includes the memory devices 604; and anetwork interface system that includes the network interface devices606.

The computing device 600 may be arranged, in various embodiments, inmany different ways. As just one example, the computing device 600 maybe arranged such that the processors 602 include: a multi (orsingle)-core processor; a first network interface device (whichimplements, for example, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, etc. . . . ); a secondnetwork interface device that implements one or more cellularcommunication technologies (e.g., 3G, 4G LTE, CDMA, etc. . . . ); memoryor storage devices (e.g., RAM, flash memory, or a hard disk). Theprocessor, the first network interface device, the second networkinterface device, and the memory devices may be integrated as part ofthe same SOC (e.g., one integrated circuit chip). As another example,the computing device 600 may be arranged such that: the processors 602include two, three, four, five, or more multi-core processors; thenetwork interface devices 606 include a first network interface devicethat implements Ethernet and a second network interface device thatimplements WiFi and/or Bluetooth; and the memory devices 604 include aRAM and a flash memory or hard disk.

As previously noted, whenever it is described in this document that asoftware module or software process performs any action, the action isin actuality performed by underlying hardware elements according to theinstructions that comprise the software module. Consistent with theforegoing, in various embodiments, each or any combination of theCertification Authority computer system 104, publisher systems 102,consumer systems 108, verification computer system 110, system 300,along with the modules and/or services of each of these, each of whichwill be referred to individually for clarity as a “component” for theremainder of this paragraph, may be implemented using an example of thecomputing device 600 of FIG. 5. In such embodiments, the followingapplies for each component: (a) the elements of the 600 computing device600 shown in FIG. 6 (i.e., the one or more processors 602, one or morememory devices 604, one or more network interface devices 606, one ormore display interfaces 608, and one or more user input adapters 610),or appropriate combinations or subsets of the foregoing) are configuredto, adapted to, and/or programmed to implement each or any combinationof the actions, activities, or features described herein as performed bythe component and/or by any software modules described herein asincluded within the component; (b) alternatively or additionally, to theextent it is described herein that one or more software modules existwithin the component, in some embodiments, such software modules (aswell as any data described herein as handled and/or used by the softwaremodules) are stored in the memory devices 604 (e.g., in variousembodiments, in a volatile memory device such as a RAM or an instructionregister and/or in a non-volatile memory device such as a flash memoryor hard disk) and all actions described herein as performed by thesoftware modules are performed by the processors 602 in conjunctionwith, as appropriate, the other elements in and/or connected to thecomputing device 600 (i.e., the network interface devices 606, displayinterfaces 608, user input adapters 610, and/or display device 612); (c)alternatively or additionally, to the extent it is described herein thatthe component processes and/or otherwise handles data, in someembodiments, such data is stored in the memory devices 604 (e.g., insome embodiments, in a volatile memory device such as a RAM and/or in anon-volatile memory device such as a flash memory or hard disk) and/oris processed/handled by the processors 602 in conjunction, asappropriate, the other elements in and/or connected to the computingdevice 600 (i.e., the network interface devices 606, display interfaces608, user input adapters 610, and/or display device 612); (d)alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the memory devices602 store instructions that, when executed by the processors 602, causethe processors 602 to perform, in conjunction with, as appropriate, theother elements in and/or connected to the computing device 600 (i.e.,the memory devices 604, network interface devices 606, displayinterfaces 608, user input adapters 610, and/or display device 512),each or any combination of actions described herein as performed by thecomponent and/or by any software modules described herein as includedwithin the component.

The hardware configurations shown in FIG. 6 and described above areprovided as examples, and the subject matter described herein may beutilized in conjunction with a variety of different hardwarearchitectures and elements. For example: in many of the Figures in thisdocument, individual functional/action blocks are shown; in variousembodiments, the functions of those blocks may be implemented using (a)individual hardware circuits, (b) using an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) specifically configured to perform thedescribed functions/actions, (c) using one or more digital signalprocessors (DSPs) specifically configured to perform the describedfunctions/actions, (d) using the hardware configuration described abovewith reference to FIG. 6, (e) via other hardware arrangements,architectures, and configurations, and/or via combinations of thetechnology described in (a) through (e).

Technical Advantages of Described Subject Matter

According to the example embodiments herein, tracking and/or auditingchanges to content and/or data may provide for quicker and more accurateaccounting of information (e.g., in the case of unauthorized intrusioninto a computer system).

In certain examples, an audit hub provides a cryptographic proof of thestate changes of information. In the event of tamping with suchinformation, an alert may be triggered. This solution thus can improvehow content or data is monitored.

Selected Terminology

Whenever it is described in this document that a given item is presentin “some embodiments,” “various embodiments,” “certain embodiments,”“certain example embodiments, “some example embodiments,” “an exemplaryembodiment,” or whenever any other similar language is used, it shouldbe understood that the given item is present in at least one embodiment,though is not necessarily present in all embodiments. Consistent withthe foregoing, whenever it is described in this document that an action“may,” “can,” or “could” be performed, that a feature, element, orcomponent “may,” “can,” or “could” be included in or is applicable to agiven context, that a given item “may,” “can,” or “could” possess agiven attribute, or whenever any similar phrase involving the term“may,” “can,” or “could” is used, it should be understood that the givenaction, feature, element, component, attribute, etc. is present in atleast one embodiment, though is not necessarily present in allembodiments. Terms and phrases used in this document, and variationsthereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed asopen-ended rather than limiting. As examples of the foregoing: “and/or”includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items (e.g., a and/or b means a, b, or a and b); the singularforms “a”, “an” and “the” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “oneor more,” or the like; the term “example” is used provide examples ofthe subject under discussion, not an exhaustive or limiting listthereof; the terms “comprise” and “include” (and other conjugations andother variations thereof) specify the presence of the associated listeditems but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more otheritems; and if an item is described as “optional,” such descriptionshould not be understood to indicate that other items are also notoptional.

As used herein, the term “non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium” includes a register, a cache memory, a ROM, a semiconductormemory device (such as a D-RAM, S-RAM, or other RAM), a magnetic mediumsuch as a flash memory, a hard disk, a magneto-optical medium, anoptical medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, or Blu-Ray Disc, or other typeof device for non-transitory electronic data storage. The term“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” does not include atransitory, propagating electromagnetic signal.

Additional Applications of Described Subject Matter

Although process steps, algorithms or the like, including withoutlimitation with reference to FIGS. 1-2B, may be described or claimed ina particular sequential order, such processes may be configured to workin different orders. In other words, any sequence or order of steps thatmay be explicitly described or claimed in this document does notnecessarily indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in thatorder; rather, the steps of processes described herein may be performedin any order possible. Further, some steps may be performedsimultaneously (or in parallel) despite being described or implied asoccurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described afterthe other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by itsdepiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process isexclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not implythat the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary, and doesnot imply that the illustrated process is preferred.

Although various embodiments have been shown and described in detail,the claims are not limited to any particular embodiment or example. Noneof the above description should be read as implying that any particularelement, step, range, or function is essential. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the above-describedembodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to beencompassed. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or method toaddress each and every problem sought to be solved by the presentinvention, for it to be encompassed by the invention. No embodiment,feature, element, component, or step in this document is intended to bededicated to the public.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A computer system for cryptographicallycertifying digital content by using a blockchain of distributedblockchain computing system that includes multiple computing nodes, eachcomputing node storing a copy, or a portion thereof, of the blockchain,the computer system comprising: a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium configured to store a plurality of digital cryptographicdata structures that each include at least a corresponding private key,wherein a first one of the plurality of digital cryptographic datastructures is associated with a digital content publisher; a processingsystem that includes at least one hardware processor, the processingsystem configured to: receive, from a computer system associated withthe digital content publisher, a certification request for first digitalcontent; generate a hash of the first digital content; generate apublisher signature as a function of the generated hash and a privatekey of the first one of the plurality of digital cryptographic datastructures that is associated with the digital content publisher;generate a blockchain transaction based on the hash of content and thegenerated publisher signature; publish the generated blockchaintransaction to the blockchain of the distributed blockchain computingsystem; hash the blockchain transaction; generate a verification tokenfor the first digital content based on the hash of the blockchaintransaction; and transmit the generated verification token to thecomputer system associated with the digital content publisher forassociation with the publishing of the first digital content.
 2. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein a second one of the plurality ofdigital cryptographic data structures is associated with a customer ofthe digital content publisher, wherein the processing system is furtherconfigured to: sign the generated hash with the private key of thesecond one of the plurality of digital cryptographic data structures togenerate a customer signature, wherein the generated blockchaintransaction is also based on the generated customer signature.
 3. Thecomputer system of claim 1, wherein the verification token is embeddedinto the first digital content that is released by the digital contentpublisher.
 4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein the verificationtoken is embedded into a hyperlink associated with the release of thefirst digital content by the digital content publisher.
 5. The computersystem of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configuredto: receive, from a requesting computer system, a verification request,the verification request including a submitted verification token, andsecond digital content to verify; generate a hash of the second digitalcontent; obtain a blockchain transaction from the blockchain that isassociated with the submitted verification token; compare the generatedhash of the second digital content with a stored hash from the obtainedblockchain transaction; based on the comparison, determine theauthenticity of the second digital content; and transmit a messageresult to the requesting computer system based on the determinedauthenticity.
 6. A method for cryptographically certifying digitalcontent using a computer system that communicates with a distributedblockchain computing system that includes multiple computing nodes, eachcomputing node storing a copy, or a portion thereof, of a blockchain,the method comprising: reading a first one of the plurality of digitalcryptographic data structures that are stored in a storage system of thecomputer system, each one of the plurality of digital cryptographic datastructures including at least a corresponding private key; receiving,from a computer system associated with the digital content publisher, acertification request for first digital content; generating a hash ofthe first digital content; generating a publisher signature as afunction of the generated hash and a private key of the first one of theplurality of digital cryptographic data structures that is associatedwith the digital content publisher; generating a blockchain transactionbased on the hash of content and the generated publisher signature;publishing the generated blockchain transaction to the blockchain of thedistributed blockchain computing system; hashing the blockchaintransaction; generating a verification token for the first digitalcontent based on the hash of the blockchain transaction; andtransmitting the generated verification token to the computer systemassociated with the digital content publisher for association with thepublishing of the first digital content.
 7. The method of claim 6,wherein a second one of the plurality of digital cryptographic datastructures is associated with a customer of the digital contentpublisher, the method further comprising: signing the generated hashwith the private key of the second one of the plurality of digitalcryptographic data structures to generate a customer signature, whereinthe generated blockchain transaction is also based on the generatedcustomer signature.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the verificationtoken is embedded into the first digital content that is released by thedigital content publisher.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein theverification token is embedded into a hyperlink associated with therelease of the first digital content by the digital content publisher.10. The method of claim 6, further comprising: receiving, from arequesting computer system, a verification request, the verificationrequest including a submitted verification token, and second digitalcontent to verify; generating a hash of the second digital content;obtaining a blockchain transaction from the blockchain that isassociated with the submitted verification token; comparing thegenerated hash of the second digital content with a stored hash from theobtained blockchain transaction; based on the comparison, determiningthe authenticity of the second digital content; and transmitting amessage result to the requesting computer system based on the determinedauthenticity.